movie still 5

two shots from the opening of the film 'sunset boulevard' (1950). the second one of the man floating in the pool provided a technical challenge for the camera crew without the use of underwater cameras. instead, they placed a mirror on the bottom of the pool, heated the water to a level that didn't effect the clarity of the reflection and then shot downwards from a platform, recording the image reflected in the mirror. all technical aspects aside, the shot is stunning and helped to make the film a classic...

movie still 4

got movie stills coming out my ears - i'll have to post them more often. this one is from the film 'black robe', the moment just before the huron tribe accepts christianity...

movie still 3

here i am skiving off from what i said i would post about next (again). here are some movie stills from the film 'control' about the life and death of ian curtis (lead singer of joy division). the film is directed by famous photographer anton corbijn, so you would expect some lovely black and white visuals... (click on 'em to see 'em bigger like)

movie still 2

here's the second installment of 'movie still'. this time a little bit of kubrick magic, and no matter what anyone says about space odyssey 2001 it is undoubtedly a stunning film visually. i got so lost in the visuals that i only remembered to capture a few frames - but virtually every shot in that film could be captured - especially once the film moves beyond the annoying apeman opening scenes. my favourite shot is the last one below...

movie still 1

another new regular feature for my blog: movie stills. one of the biggest things that attracts me to a film is the cinematography. i can sit and watch a film that would ordinarily be 'boring' and love it for the camera work. when i studied film at university i remember coming across a comment that in the great movies you can take an individual frame, and composition and lighting-wise it will stand up as an image by itself.

often when i'm watching a dvd on my computer i'll see a shot that i particularly love and the photographer part of my brain tells me to press "c" to capture the image using the dvd software's in-built capture feature.

over the last couple of years i've gathered quite a nice little collection of movie stills on my computer, so i thought it might be cool to start posting some of them on the blog. the range of movies is very wide - from established 'classics' to more recent films. occasionally i might even post an image from a film that i have forgotten the title of....

so here goes - movie still 1: 'noi the albino', and actually this film is too beautiful to post just one image...